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“This event is a celebration of the many outdoor recreation opportunities our region and Five Rivers MetroParks offer,” Said Rebecca Benna, Executive Director of Five Rivers MetroParks. “It is a way for everyone to personally connect with nature and experience the outdoors. It’s a chance not only for expert adventurers to further their skills, but for families to try something new.”

We are thrilled to attending this year’s Midwest Outdoor Experience in Dayton, Ohio, the “Outdoor Adventure Capital of the Midwest.” With more than 15,500 acres of land, 270 miles of river corridor and 160 miles of managed trails for hiking, cycling, mountain biking and horseback riding, the Five Rivers Metro Parks is the place for outdoor adventure! On October 3rd and 4th, the Five Rivers MetroPacks will host Outdoor events and the best part is the event is free! Here are some key events you will want to check out while at the Midwest Outdoor Experience:

IMBA Bike Village-Osprey partner and non-profit IMBA, whose mission is to create, enhance and preserve great mountain biking experiences, will be sponsoring the Bike Village. Add to your mountain bike skills by visiting the Bike Village. Don’t forget to bring your wheels for the group rides and skills clinics!

Compete in the Great Outdoors-You can also enter several competitions, including a 12-hour endurance race or the disc golf tournament on a special course created just for this event! There is something for everyone — so check out the full list of competitions.

Live Music-Take a break and enjoy live music programmed by 91.3 FM WYSO and the Dayton Music Fest, featuring local acts at the Osprey stage! As you can tell from our #MusicMondays, we dig those live beats so we are sponsoring some amazing live music. Look for an array of our packs that will be decorating the stage!

Waste Free in 3- Festival vendors and volunteers have committed to keeping this event plastic-free and will not sell plastic water bottles or use Styrofoam. Instead, they will provide compostable or locally recyclable utensils. Show your support for this initiative and take part by bringing your own water bottle, pint mug, utensils — or purchase a reusable stainless steel bottle for the water stations and Great Lakes Beer Garden.

For more details over the many events taking place this weekend, check out the complete schedule.

Don’t forget to stop by the Osprey booth — we will be having quite a few activities (such as demos and chances to win a pack)! Here’s the scoop:

Get Fitted by our Fit-Gurus: The Osprey team will be on-site to answer all of your questions, chat packs with you and provide you the exact fit you need for your next Osprey purchase.

20% off Osprey Packs- We have teamed up with Great Miami Outfitters to bring you a unique discount of 20% off all select Osprey packs in celebration of the Midwest Outdoor Experience! You will find this 20% off in both the Great Miami booth as well as the Osprey Packs booth. Great Miami Outfitters will have all larger models for multi-day trips and the Osprey booth will have an assortment of hydration, trail, and day packs.

Osprey Demos- Experience the custom fit and functionality that Osprey is known for by taking one of our packs on your outdoor adventure or competition. We will have a limited supply of day packs and reservoirs for you to demo so don’t delay and be sure to stop by the booth to check them out!

Win a Pack- Take our 3 minute event survey for a chance to win an Osprey Pack! We will announce a winner daily and will be giving away the Limited Edition Trip 20 daypack.

#OutdoorX Scavenger Hunt- Are you on Instagram or Twitter? If so, you are in luck! Osprey has partnered with several Midwest Outdoor Experience sponsors to bring you a fun way to win a Grand Prize package! Visit all of the participating sponsors’ booths and find the scavenger item, then snap a photo, and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #OutdoorX. Be sure to tag the sponsor as well for a chance to win an Osprey Trip 20, Zuke’s Gift Basket, REI Mini-Bar Cooler, 3-disc set from Vibram and a $25 Gift Card and Gift Bag from Field & Stream! Visit any of the participating sponsors’ booths for more details!

Talon Guest Appearance on the Osprey Stage- BIRD IS THE WORD! Meet our mascot, Talon, before he takes off for the winter. He will be making a special experience in between sets at the Osprey sponsored Music stage. He also brought some treats to throw out to the crowd, so don’t miss out! He will be on stage at 6 PM on Friday and 1:30 PM Saturday.

Ultimate Swag Giveaway- Looking for chapstick? How about a coozie for your tastey beverage? We have got you covered with some of the “Best Swag You Eva Had” at the Osprey booth. We will have stickers, hats, chapsticks, eco-coolie coozies, and much more to give away to anyone visiting our booth.

Welcome to Pedaling Change! There’s a lot of good work being done in the world of bikes, to alternative transportation advocacy to international development. To highlight some of the great action that’s going on out there, once a month we’ll be profiling a non-profit in the bike world to look at just how they’re working to make positive change.

When you think of the words “non-profit” and “mountain biking,” the International Mountain Bicycling Association is probably the first thing that comes to mind, and with good reason. Founded as a non-profit educational association, IMBA’s mission is to create, enhance and preserve great trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide. It has over 35,000 individual members worldwide, more than 160 corporate sponsors and members living in all 50 U.S. states and in over 30 countries. Talk about a global biking powerhouse.

We caught up with Mark Eller over at IMBA to talk bikes and learn a little more about the organization.

What have some of IMBA’s biggest accomplishments over the last year been?

This year, IMBA renewed a partnership with the National Park Service to continue adding mountain biking opportunities to America’s most scenic parks. We launched the Public Lands Initiative to protect access to key riding areas, and we built innovative Gateway Trail bike parks across the country to help bring new riders into the sport and give kids great places to play. This fall, we’ll help thousands of kids get outside on knobby tires with the sixth edition of IMBA’s International Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.

Courtesy of IMBA

Why is it important to do bike advocacy?

IMBA’s work is based on the idea that riding mountain bikes provides a great outdoor experience and provides a fun, athletic challenge that is accessible to millions of people. We advocate for broad access to trails and for good places to ride bikes because we want to share the enriching experience of exploring the natural world on two wheels.